NEWS BRIEFS

Private firm offers to process market wastes

A PRIVATE firm proposed to process wastes disposed from Cebu City markets for a fee of P700 per ton without producing harmful emissions.

The proposal by Bio-Nutrient Waste Management Inc. also consists of collecting the market wastes on behalf of the city and process these for P1,700 per ton as an option.

“The company’s responsibility is to process the biodegradable wastes in a manner that conforms to standards as set by the Solid Waste Management Law,” said a letter by Ma. Emma Ramas, the company’s business development manager.

A copy of the proposal was presented to the City Council during their March 13 session.

But the council referred the proposal to the environment committee of Councilor Nida Cabrera and the City Solid Waste Management Board for study.

Ramas’ proposal uses a different technology from the earlier proposal made by Greenergy Solutions Inc. which proposed a 25-year waste-to-energy contract with the city government.

But the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) bloc in the council and ecology advocates who attended a public hearing voiced concern that the project may only be mere incineration.

Ramas said in her proposal that they will be using the aerobic conversion process to produce compost.

Unlike the anaerobic process of handling waste, the use of the aerobic process doesn’t produce methane gas and phytotoxins. The Bio-Nutrient Waste project outline mentioned of processing of market wastes through composting.

The company operates a 3,854 sq. meter processing area along the Inayawan White Road, adjacent the city’s sanitary landfill.

Cebu City produces about 400 tons of garbage daily, of which 40 tons are generated by the Carbon public market and city markets located in Taboan, Pasil, Guadalupe, Labangon, Punta Princesa and Pardo among others. /Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac

Centralized supply procurement in the Capitol

A CENTRALIZED procurement process will be set up by the Provincial General Services Office (PGSO) to avoid overstocking on commodities that only expired after several months.

“Each department will make their purchase request… We will do the procurement. The delivery will be given here. And if the departments want to get something, they’ll just get it from us,” PGSO head Eva Encabo said in Cebuano.

Evelyn Senajon, acting Provincial Social Welfare Development Office (PSWDO) chief, said out of 54 boxes or 3,564 packs of noodles, only five boxes remain to be distributed before they expire this month.

Other perishable goods on the inventory list include 3,900 cans of corned beef and 5,554 bottles of vitamins. But Senajon said their expiry date is next year.

Former PSWDO chief Marivic Garces earlier said the noodles were purchased last year for victims of Typhoon Pablo. But due to the change in administration at the Capitol, she said the food wasn’t distributed.

Households affected by Typhoon “Pablo” in Cebu and Central Visayas were told to stay in their area for an ongoing special validation survey to be done by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) until last Friday.

In Cebu, the towns hardest hit by the typhoon were Oslob, Dalaguete, Samboan, Sibonga, Argao, Alcoy, Boljoon, Santander, Malabuyoc, Ginatilan, Alegria and San Fernando. /Correspondents Carmel Loise Matus and Renan Alangilan